Tree limbs are typically removed by sawing, but most are located higher than what a person can reach with a hand-held saw while standing on the ground. In some previously attempted solutions the person with the saw is lifted by a device, such as a man-lift or a tractor bucket. That procedure is dangerous and usually requires two workers, one to control the lifting device and another to operate the saw. Another procedure even more dangerous is climbing the tree with the saw, such as by tying a rope to the saw and pulling it up to a perch in the tree. In other previously attempted solutions the person stands on the ground and raises a reciprocating saw attached to the end of a pole, commonly referred to as a “pole saw.” However, the height and size of limb that can be cut with a pole saw is unacceptably limited.
Improvements are needed in the art that enable a person to safely and efficiently cut large tree limbs that are unreachable from the ground. It is to those improvements that the embodiments of the present invention are directed.